Hong Kong's statutory minimum wage to increase to HK$40 per hour, effective as soon as 1 May 2023

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The amendment will be gazetted on 13 January 2023 (Friday), and submitted to the Legislative Council for approval on 18 January 2023.

Hong Kong's Chief Executive in Council has adopted the recommendation of the Minimum Wage Commission (MWC) on raising the Statutory Minimum Wage (SMW) rate to HK$40 per hour. This adjustment will come into force as soon as 1 May this year, i.e. Labour Day.

This will see the SMW rate lifting from its prevailing level of HK$37.5 per hour, an increase of HK$2.5 or approximately 6.7%.

The Government will publish the Minimum Wage Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 3) Notice 2023 in the Gazette on 13 January 2023 (Friday), and table it in the Legislative Council (LegCo) on 18 January 2023. Subject to the approval of the LegCo, the revised SMW rate will come into force on 1 May 2023.

The Employment Ordinance (Amendment of Ninth Schedule) Notice 2023 also amends the monthly monetary cap on recording the total number of hours worked. An employer will be exempted from the requirement of recording the total number of hours worked by an employee in a wage period if wages payable to the employee for that wage period are not less than HK$16,300 (up from the current HK$15,300) per month.

In tandem with the commencement of the revised SMW rate, the revised monetary cap will come into force on the same day on which the revised rate takes effect (1 May 2023).

Chris Sun, Secretary for Labour and Welfare, is pleased with the MWC's accomplishment of reviewing the SMW rate. "After careful consideration, the Government is of the view that the MWC has ably discharged its statutory function of reviewing the SMW rate after thorough and balanced deliberation," he said.

"The recommendation of the MWC has struck an appropriate balance between the objectives of forestalling excessively low wages and minimising the loss of low-paid jobs, while giving due regard to sustaining Hong Kong's economic growth and competitiveness. The Government accepts the recommendation of the MWC, and considers that the new rate will be conducive to the overall interest and development of Hong Kong."

More details here about the guidelines and calculation on Statutory Minimum Wage.

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